Written Answers Tuesday 7 December 2010

Scottish Executive

Benefits

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the short-life working group established to review school meal and school clothing grant provision submitted its report.

Keith Brown: The short-life working group submitted its final report in March 2009.

Benefits

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it expects to complete its consideration of the report of the short-life working group established to review school meal and school clothing grant provision.

Keith Brown: No date has yet been set for completion of consideration of the short-life working group’s final report.

Carers

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the £5 million of Carer Information Strategy funding in the Scottish budget will be used to directly benefit unpaid carers and young carers.

Shona Robison: The draft budget, including the £5 million for Carer Information Strategies (CIS), has to be approved by the Scottish Parliament. Subject to this approval, the £5 million will be used to support carers and young carers just as the £9 million for CIS over the three years to March 2011 is benefitting carers and young carers. I will be taking the views of NHS health boards and the national carers organisations on the use of the £5 million in 2011-12.

Courts

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to courts opening on Saturdays; what assessment it has made of the potential cost or savings associated with such a proposal, and when could it be implemented.

Kenny MacAskill: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCS who will reply in writing.

Forestry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of woodland area have been cleared in the last two years as a result of (a) wind farm developments and (b) bog restorations and how this compares with the number of hectares planted in the same period.

Roseanna Cunningham: A breakdown of these figures is not readily available at present.

  Following discussions with the forestry sector this autumn, Forestry Commission Scotland will be piloting the collection of woodland removal data in the period 2000-10 within one of its five conservancies. The focus will be on wind farms and bog restoration, as these are known to be the primary causes of woodland removal this decade.

  The pilot exercise will also assess broader trends in woodland removal by analysing forest plans approved in the period 2000-10, calculating areas to be felled and areas to be restocked in each plan period.

  Providing the pilot can demonstrate that such information collection would not be disproportionately expensive in terms of cost or time, the methodology will then be rolled out to the remaining four conservancies in Scotland. It is anticipated that data from this project will be available by summer 2011.

Forestry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to change the definition of a woodland area from land with a 20% cover of trees to land with a 10% cover of trees and, if so, how much additional woodland area this would result in.

Roseanna Cunningham: There are no plans to change the definition of a woodland area.

Forestry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland to identify additional woodland area and, if so, approximately how many additional hectares.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Native Woodland Survey of Scotland is determining the precise area and status of native woodlands in Scotland for the first time, and will provide an accurate baseline for future monitoring. It does not include other types of woodlands, so cannot be used to determine overall woodland area. The total woodland area of Scotland is being assessed as part of the GB-wide National Forest Inventory, and we expect results to be published in spring 2011. These will show changes in woodland area compared to previous inventory information.

Forestry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the results of the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland to be published.

Roseanna Cunningham: The first eight local authority summary reports* were published in May 2010. Another five** were published in October 2010. The remaining local authority summary reports will be published in batches each spring and autumn through to spring 2013.

  The national report is scheduled for publication by summer 2013.

  A map viewer, through which the data used to prepare the summaries can be accessed, is available on the Forestry Commission website at www.forestry.gov.uk/nwss.

  Notes:

  *Aberdeen, City of Edinburgh, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire.

  **Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.

Forestry

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from stakeholders suggesting that its tree-planting provisions are inadequate and, if so, from what organisations.

Roseanna Cunningham: ConFor has expressed its concerns to the Scottish Government on behalf of the forestry sector regarding woodland creation grant aided under the Scottish Rural Development Plan.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will commence section 18 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government remains committed to ending automatic unconditional early release and officials have been in discussion with a range of interests to determine how we can implement this effectively in light of the spending cuts passed down by the UK Government.

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are taken to prepare those long-term prisoners who have not had access to the open estate for reintegration into society.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  All prisoners are given the opportunity to prepare for release. Prisoners serving long-term sentences are subject to an intensive case management process that includes ongoing assessment of their individual risk and needs. This assessment informs the preparation of a Community Integration Plan that focuses on assisting prisoners reintegrate back into their communities. This flexible plan covers such areas as accommodation, family contact and employment.

  In addition, all long-term prisoners are, on release, subject to robust licence conditions for the duration of their sentence. A serious breach of any condition can result in recall to custody.

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to the value of open prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS remains committed to supporting prisoners to successfully make the transition from custody back into the community by providing gradual and controlled access to increased freedoms. This policy includes, where appropriate and having regard to public safety, providing access to open conditions within the prison estate for appropriate prisoners.

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average daily population of HM Prison (a) Noranside and (b) Castle Huntly has been in each of the last five years.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table shows the average daily populations for HMP Castle Huntly, HMP Noranside and HMP Open Estate.

  

 
2005
2006
2007 (1-1 to 22-4)
2007 (23-4 to 31-12)
2008
2009


Castle Huntly
179
265
280
-
-
-


Noranside
136
151
163
-
-
-


Open Estate
-
-
-
478
379
282



  Notes:

  Data provided is in Calendar years.

  HMP Castle Huntly and HMP Noranside were amalgamated into HMP Open Estate on 23 April 2007. From this date onwards, all aggregated data is held against HMP Open Estate rather than the individual sites. Other than to provide a snapshot of today’s population at these sites, it is not possible to separate the data into Castle Huntly and Noranside.

  Average daily population for Castle Huntly and Noranside in 2007 is based on data from 1 January 2007 to 22 April 2007.

  Average daily population for HMP Open Estate in 2007 is based on data from 23 April 2007 to 31 December 2007.

  The population of the Open Estate on 1 December 2010 was 255.

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service has met the Governor of HM Prison Noranside to discuss the possible closure of the prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  I have advised the Governor of HMP Open Estate and SPS Trade Union officials that the capacity within the Open Estate would need to be reviewed in light of the outcome of the Spending Review.

  I expect to meet with the Governor and Trade Union officials to discuss this matter further.

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35269 by Kenny MacAskill on 22 July 2010, what the minimum number of hours is that a prisoner has to work.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  There is no fixed minimum number of hours that a prisoner has to work.

  Work allocation is dependent upon capacity and work availability in each prison. Typically work sessions range from two and a half to three hours respectively in the morning and afternoon.

  Prisoners will work on average nine sessions per week. Some sessions may not be attended due to a prisoner being at education classes, participating in an offending behaviour programme or health centre or community agency appointments. The minimum time prisoners may work therefore ranges between 18 to 25 hours per week and will depend further upon attendance at any such appointments and Physical Training (PT).

Prison Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per week on average prisoners serving sentences of (a) less than six months, (b) six months to two years and (c) over two years spend working.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information is not held in the format that has been requested. Typically, those prisoners employed in work parties will complete nine sessions of work per week ranging from two hours to three hours per session resulting in a range of hours worked from 18 hours to 25 hours per week per prisoner. Work party allocation will typically consist of a mixture of short-term and long-term prisoners.